Gyula Benczúr (1844 - 1920)

Portrait of Queen Elisabeth, 1899
© Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

In Benczúr's portrait, Elisabeth is wearing a black dress and is placed before a gold brocade background clearly influenced by Art Nouveau. In a letter to Maria Valeria, the Emperor Franz Joseph I called this painting the best and most characteristic portrait of his beloved wife.
The introduction of a regular railway service brought Buda much closer to the Imperial capital. However, the distance became even smaller when Elisabeth, the young wife of the Emperor Franz Joseph, developed a weakness for Buda.